Accident

For almost all of Bob Edgar Jr.'s life, his father has been running uphill for political office. He's 19 now, in the first year of his franchise. But his political divining rod is more finely tuned than those of some wizened ward leaders. "When you're an Edgar kid, you're never overly optimistic," he said late last night, when early returns were showing a narrow victory for his father, Bob Sr. "But there was some kind of feeling today . . . There was plenty of support out there for Bob Edgar.

Kitty Dougherty doesn't remember much about the automobile accident that put her athletic career on hold for the better part of three months back in June 1986. But she does recall the first thing that popped into her mind when she finally regained her senses after several hours at the hospital. "I thought, 'How's this going to hinder my basketball?' " said Dougherty, a junior swingman at Drexel. "I know it sounds silly, because actually I was lucky that I wasn't hurt even more seriously, but that's just how I felt.

Former Flyers coach Paul Holmgren was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol Monday night after a two-car accident in Gloucester Township in which he, his son, and the driver of another car suffered minor injuries. Holmgren, his son, Wes, 9, and Gloucester Township resident Jan Karpinski - the driver of the other vehicle - were taken to Kennedy Memorial Hospitals in Stratford, where they were treated and released, according to Gloucester Township Patrolman Charles Boyle.

A one-car accident in Northeast Philadelphia Saturday night left the driver dead and his passenger hospitalized. The accident occurred just before 11 p.m., when the driver struck a tree at Red Lion and Norcom roads near the North Philadelphia Airport, police said. The driver died at the scene. His 27-year-old passenger was listed in critical condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. One of his legs had been amputated.

Four people, including a 10-year-old girl, were injured last night in an apparently related traffic accident and shooting in Strawberry Mansion. The girl, reportedly identified as Destiny Gonzalez, was walking in the area when she was shot in the shoulder. She was taken to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where she was reported in fair condition. Three men were also hospitalized with serious injuries. After being called to the 2900 block of Montgomery Avenue about 7:30 p.m., police found one car flipped upside down, riddled with bullet holes, along with several other smashed cars.

Seat belts are not effective unless there is an accident. Why not eliminate the need for seat belts by attacking the problem at the root, rather than treating the symptoms? I am not in favor of mandatory seat-belt laws. I am in favor of making Pennsylvanians safer drivers. Can we not make driver education compulsory in every high school for every student? I had an excellent course in defensive driving at my high school nine years ago. As yet, I have not been involved in any form of traffic accident or even small mishap.

The Camden County Prosecutor's Office ruled Sunday that the drowning of a 3-year-old Winslow Township girl was an accident, officials said. Jason Laughlin, spokesman for the prosecutor, said the toddler was dead when her family found her body in the home swimming pool about 8:45 p.m. Saturday. He said emergency workers took the body to Virtua Hospital Berlin. The child's identity was not released.   — Mark Fazlollah

A Levittown man is suing a Middletown police officer and the township for more than $50,000 as the result of injuries he says he suffered after his car was struck by the police car the officer was driving. The suit, filed July 20, claims that Arne Ugland of the 1900 block of New Rodgers Road suffered "multiple body contusions, multiple internal and external injuries" after he was struck by the vehicle, driven by Police Officer Thomas R. Bonsall Jr. The accident occurred Oct. 26, 1992, at Route 413 and East Lincoln Highway in Penndel.

Mark Lord, 31, of the 600 block of Loraine Street, Ardmore, was arraigned March 29 on charges of homicide by vehicle in the aftermath of a Jan. 26 car accident that killed a Havertown man. According to police, Lord failed to yield the right of way and turned left onto Manoa Road from Pembroke Road, striking a truck driven by Robert L. Eck, 65, of the 300 block of Eagle Hill Road, Havertown. The accident occurred at 5:47 p.m. on Jan. 26. According to Sgt. Charles Brooks of Haverford Township Police, Eck got out of the car and started to walk to a house on Manoa Road to report the incident.

Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige died in surgery yesterday after being crushed by a horse that reared and fell backward on him while he was practicing for a roping competition. Baldrige, 64, died at 3:50 p.m. during surgery at John Muir Hospital here, said Naran L. Patel, a trauma surgeon at the hospital. The commerce secretary, a member of President Reagan's cabinet since 1981, arrived at the hospital by helicopter after the accident at the Jack Roddy Ranch in rural Brentwood, 45 miles east of San Francisco.